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WPC: Windows of a ‘Heavy Metal’ church.

I’ve decided to take a break from playing piano, in order to do the Weekly Photo Challenge. My fingers are crying out for a rest after pounding out the beat of ‘Tradition’ from Fiddler on the Roof, and ‘There is Nothing Like a Dame’ from South Pacific. When in Costa Rica at the end of last year, we visited the picturesque town of Grecia, known as “the cleanest town in Latin America.” Right next to a beautiful park full of shady trees, is a really interesting church. The ‘Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes’. (Our Lady of Mercy)

This Gothic-style church is constructed of brick-red metal panels, which were fabricated in Belgium and shipped in 1892, as individual slabs to the port city of Limon, from where these heavy loads were transported, first by rail and then by ox wagon, across the rugged terrain from Alajuela to Grecia. After the original church in Grecia was gutted by fire, and its replacement, destroyed in an earthquake in 1888, it was decided to build an indestructible one, hence the fact that this is made entirely from steel.This iconic structure is a deep red hue, and as you can see, is adorned with very cute ‘gingerbread’ trim.

The interior is so elegant, with many windows and 35 metre high ceilings, which make it really bright and airy.

and these make such a lovely backdrop to the wonderful old pipe organ.

I hope you’ve enjoyed looking at my windows for the challenge. To see more entries, just click on the icon below.

PS: Just in case you’re wondering how I’m getting on with learning the 9 songs for the concert, here is an update. My new Fitbit Force wristband which I got for Christmas, measures calories burned, as well as steps taken, distance walked etc.. I’ve discovered that playing ‘Tradition’ through once, actually burns 50 calories, so if I play it 100 times a day, I needn’t do any other exercise! This nifty little gadget also monitors my sleep pattern every night, and told me that on the night after the first practice, I woke up 32 times. Yes, I remember waking up numerous times with ‘Tradition!!’ stomping around in my head, and not being able to get back to sleep again. Last night however, I managed 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, so my worry gene is gradually taking a back seat. 🙂